Fat hurts wrote:
Flagpole wrote:
I am a very forgiving person and well up with sympathy for just about anyone at any time. I am with Trollminator on this one. Sympathy for this one particular man, no. He was given the info not to do this, and he did not heed the warning. He proudly displayed how many people were at his church and said he would hold services unless he were dead or in jail. So, for him, I have no sympathy. I have sympathy for anyone who loved him who was old enough to know better and disagreed with him on this. I have sympathy for anyone too young to know better who loved him. Beyond not having sympathy for him, I am not happy that he put other people in jeopardy. They all could have decided to not attend church, but he was the leader of that flock, and so they flocked. Shame on him. God didn't have a plan for him there. His stupidity lead to his death. For those who do believe in God (I do not), did he not give us a brain for a reason? You can't just say, "let go and let God" and not behave in a responsible way. He pointed a loaded gun at his own head and pulled the trigger. I am not happy that he died as a result, but there is no sympathy to give him here.
We all make mistakes. We all make foolish decisions. But most of us don't pay with our lives.
Having sympathy doesn't mean you agree with or condone what he did. It only means that as a fallible human, you can relate.
I understand that point of view and generally agree with it, but the message could not have been more clear here, AND he said he would do it unless he were dead or in jail, meaning he would defy a lawful order. This goes beyond a simple mistake. It was reckless. He put himself and others in danger, not due to any temporary loss of sanity, not due to being momentarily enraged, not due to forgetting to do something he should have done, not mistaking a family member for a burglar. This was a decision he made where the consequences were known and real. I can't muster sympathy for him.